The “One-sided Story” is a unique, new residency project, located in Leipzig, Germany, in the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, www.spinnerei.de, under the sponsorship of the non-profit international art organization, Halle 14.

This project brings together emerging and mid-career artists principally from the Croatian Association of Artists, www.hdlu.hr, and the Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art, www.nyaa.edu, as well as additional special guest artists internationally. This thematic exhibition-focused residency program is housed in a 243 square meter atelier in Halle 14. Six to ten artists are invited at a time, to work for 2 to 5 months in the same space, fostering communication and collaboration. The theme, “One-sided story” is up for interpretation by the participating artists.

Our program encourages exchange and hopes to stimulate discussion within the studio setting and visual cohesion and conceptual dynamism within the curated exhibitions . The project runs for only one year, the residency begins April 28th, during the Spring Rundgang. The first artists to arrive will be introduced to the Leipzig public and art community during this weekend and will begin their residency session on May 1. All artists will exhibit during the Spinnerei Rundgang, which takes place three times a year, in the spring, autumn, and winter, http://spinnereigalerien.de/rundgang/. The artists will also benefit from open critiques with Leipziger artists, gallerists, curators, and professors. There will be a publication at the end of the project and selected works will then be sent to Zagreb, Croatia for a museum exhibition at the Meštrovi?ev paviljon, home of the HDLU. In addition to the selected works, three Leipziger painters, three Leipziger video artists, and three Leipziger photographers will also exhibit.

“One-sided story” is about flipping and opening perspective, seeking truth that may not suit you, and being aware of the peripheral. The philosopher and humanitarian, John Stuart Mill taught that to understand an issue it is necessary to learn the arguments on both sides equally well. There are two sides or even multiple sides to every story, especially in our globalized world, but we often only pay attention to one side, our side. There are in numerous truths borne out of each life experience which is essential to establishing identity, but which truth has more validity, the common one or the seemingly outrageous, and doesn’t the time in which we perceive an idea shade its meaning or bring it to light, make it discernible or innocuous, make it efficacious in that moment and inconceivable in the next. History in other words is not linear but an ever moving and mutating story, as time passes new versions discredit the previous. Mill wrote, “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” So we’re talking about whether the quantitative significance of the mass versus the individual is tantamount, arbitrary, or preeminent. The media, governments, nations, individuals often only see the side of the story that suits their needs and desires and often propagate this single perspective, isolating their own view of the world. The nature of artist residencies when based in a group dynamic is not just about the solitary time spent, uninterrupted by your daily lifestyle, to focus on your art, but is most importantly about the knowledge that you gain from the artists and place you’re surrounded by. You may not have a direct connection with someone but being in the same space as their work still makes a mark on your tableau, whether as something you consciously or subconsciously accept or reject. Bringing together disparate groups that come from very different art education and cultures for that matter, such as the highly conceptual based artistic philosophies of the Croatians and the academic approach of the Americans is putting two sides into one space.

Who can apply?
The project is full until May 2013. HDLU members and NYAA alumni are the primary partner organizations. Additional artists are accepted based on merit. An open call was conducted in March 2012 to invite special guest artists from France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Poland, the United States, and Canada.

Is there a deadline?
We are not taking submissions at the moment.

How to apply?
Please email the director Candace Goodrich with any inquiries or project proposals for 2013. We are open to creating new partnerships with additional artist association. candacegoodrich@gmail.com

How long is the residency?
1 - 5 months, beginning May 2012 and ending May 2013. This is a project that will only run for one year. Additional projects are being considered.

How many artists are in residence at a time?
Between 6 and 11 artists. There are constantly new artists arriving since the schedule changes continuously.

Does it cost anything?
There is a monthly participation fee. Please contact the director, Candace Goodrich, candacegoodrich@gmail.com.

Any special conditions?
One-sided Story is a work space only and participants are asked to make work based on the theme.

Is there a grant?
The Croatian artists are supported by the Ministry of Culture of Croatia and the City of Zagreb. No other grant structure is currently in place.

Is there a studio and studio equipment?
The studio is housed in Halle 14 on the 2nd floor. The space is a 243 square meter shared workspace. Basic tools are provided.

Is there a living space?
One-sided Story is a work only space. Housing options are suggested, however it is not the obligation of One-sided Story to make living arrangements for their artists.

As an independent art centre, HALLE 14 is a place for the presentation of contemporary art as well as a space for reflection and communication. As a non-profit organization, HALLE 14 serves the public interest in its artistic commitment. This goal is accomplished through projects such as exhibitions, an art library, the art education programme Kreative Spinner, the scholarship programme Studio14 and the Lounge14 series of talks and discussions. In addition, there are exhibitions of the partners of HALLE 14.

The five-storey industrial building HALLE 14, with a total of 20,000 m², is located at the site of the former Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei (Leipzig Cotton Spinning Mill). Since the beginning of the 1990s, artists, gallerists and others involved in creative work have built a productive and lively community at this location, providing an inspiring environment for HALLE 14.

HALLE 14 is supported by the Federkiel Foundation and the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH. Individual projects are funded by friends and patrons of HALLE 14.

Croatian Association of Visual Artists (HDLU) is nongovernmental, non-for-profit and politically neutral union of professionals. Its membership, boasting 1500 members, consists exclusively of visual artists of all generations, working in all forms of expression and disciplines. The Association was established in 1868 and since then it was continuously active, though under the different names. The basic aims of the Association are: to support and encourage contemporary visual expression, to improve and protect the freedom of visual expression, to organize exhibitions, to collaborate in preparations of the laws and rules regulating visual arts production and social rights of the artists.

HDLU promotes development of the visual culture by taking care of the social and financial status of its members, encouraging artistic creativity and excellence, conceiving and promoting dynamic exhibition program and international cultural exchange.

HDLU seat is famous Meštrovi? Pavilion located on one of the most beautiful squares of central downtown area of Zagreb. It consists of three exhibition spaces: Ring Gallery, Barrel Gallery, and Extended Media Gallery. Karas Gallery, the forth of HDLU’s exhibition spaces, is located in Praska Street by the Square of Republic, Zagreb’s central square.

The New York Academy of Art is a graduate school that combines intensive technical training in the fine arts with active critical discourse. We believe that rigorously trained artists are best able to realize their artistic vision. Therefore, Academy students are taught traditional methods and techniques and encouraged to use these skills to make vital contemporary art. As such, the Academy serves as a creative and intellectual center for all artists dedicated to highly-skilled, conceptually-aware figurative and representational art.

The Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art (a voluntary, membership-oriented organization) strengthens the bonds of friendship and collegiality throughout the Academy community. It supports the Academy’s goals to equip artists with values and skills necessary for the creation of vital contemporary art through the study of the human figure. It also offers fantastic benefits to its members such as additional exhibition opportunities, information and networking, professional practice seminars, peer critiques and social events.